The present invention relates to cargo carrying vehicles and the like and, more particularly, to an assembly for increasing the cargo carrying space of a pickup truck bed and trailers made from the same to which the assembly is temporarily and securely attached.
Pickup trucks, as is well known, are commonly used for hauling light cargo such as crates and boxes containing different useful items. Furthermore, it is common to see pickup truck beds converted into trailers for towing behind other vehicles. These pickup truck beds are formed of a floor and extending side walls and end walls, one of the latter of which is hinged forming the tailgate. In general, the cargo carrying capacity of the truck bed is limited by the height of the extending side and end walls.
It is not unusual to see people attempting to carry more cargo than can be loaded into the bed of the pickup truck by stacking the cargo above the walls of the truck bed and using cord or other means to tie the load down. However, this is undesirable as a safety problem may occur as the cargo can shift while the vehicle is in transit, thus causing the cord to be loosened with resultant loss of the load.
Another means for increasing the cargo carrying capacity of those pickpup truck beds having cavities formed in the sidewalls thereof is to use a stake and rail assembly to increase the extending height of the walls of the bed. The stake members of the assembly are dimensioned to fit within the cavities of the sidewalls of the pickup bed. However, not all pickup truck beds are manufactured with such cavities formed therein to accommodate these type of stake and rail assemblies.
Hence, a need exists for an economical stake and rail assembly which is easily and removably attached to a pickup truck bed or the like for increasing the cubic cargo space thereof and which can be used with any vehicle manufacture's truck bed.